Surgical armboard attachment



L. M. MCDONALD 2,637,608

SURGICAL ARMBOARD ATTACHMENT Filed May 22, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

Lucille 'MMcDona/d Patented May 5, 1953 v es FATE NT 0 F F I CE r SERGIO:ARMEOAREATTHCHMENT" EucilledVI-i momma, jrmmatwashw maximum-Mame msoasename. T635540?- iiolnmsi (o1. van-1o) The: present: inventiom relates: to an attach menttforarmboardsiassooiateci with"surgieaiilop eratingw tables and: adapted to-support the drap ingrs sheetst over the" armboarcl} out of. contaeti with the arm of a patientplaced thereom It is conventional procedure in" lidspitalslto'j. place a patient/ om an operating tableprovided entit ed-laterally extendingarmb'oard'i His arma thentmay be? strappetl to the board for: the m jeotionr. or dextrose; normal v saline solution and other fluids orfor'thaintroduction of blood; or" ofi intravenous anesthetics such: as pent'atholi In such procedures-sites=neeessary thati the arm. be fi'il-ly r dra'ped'j i? e. -coveredwith sterile sheets toklieepxit sterile ami toseparate the anesthetists on anaesthesiol'ogist from the sterilesurgioai i amea imwhicli the surgeon works:

Heretoforeg it: has beem convention-ab prac tiee'a simply-1 to pIa30Bht1-"l8 =Steri16 sheets" over and upon the: arm after: the introdimtio venous: fluids has; been; stan tecl?v This has: the: pronounceds and'i serious: disadvantage; howeverr. that; thearm; is; obscured: from: View so that; the" anaesthetist? oannoti inspect; c'on tinuously: the: apparatus"; being. employed i for: the injections: Furthermore; since: it':-; is; necessary? toaraisefathes-sheets-sto make:ethisiginspiectiony there" isirthetsnery real possibility: of: causing: thesinads vertent withdrawal of the needle fromt theaveinn Still?v further; the: drap'ngsheets arers subject to repeated handling: and"; disturbance: with-1, com- 1 seqnentt likeiihood; of; contaminating? the" areas; which it. is desiredrl tos mamtaini. sterilez.

lt'lthel'fifol'eEiSithGIEGHEBZiLObjCt ,ofitiie present:

invention to prov-ideeamattachment'f for: surgicaiii axrmboards. which? will: support: the draping sheets: out of i'contaotxwithitheapatients? arm: and: the; intravenouss injection apparatus: beings employed;

It is: another? object: of." the: present: invention ton, provide: a... surgical; armrboard attachment; for supporting the draping sheetsg: whieh attach. mentizisi easily titansferre'cl from operativeto inoperative positions;v or which may readily b'e removedientirely'rfromizthei armboarcl when-this is desired-:3 even. when; the; patientfs armis: resting;- thereon;

Still another.- object 013:. the-present: invention is; thezprovisionr: of: ant: attachmentifor: support ing: drapin sheets; abet/en a surgical; armboard' whicmwill"protectxfromicontaminationthe areas;v totbemaintained Sterile:fXKfihilBflEfi'OIdil'lf: the anes' th'etist-t or; oth'err'techniciani. free aecessw to: the" patientszarm :atzail Lti'mesu Still; another." obiect 'of therpresent invention;

21 is: the provision? oi v art surgica1 armboardi attache ment fonsupporting the; draping sheets; which: attachmentiis easy t'or clean; .sanitary, universal? 1y; apnlioablew to: any: armb'oard'; on either? side: of the operating table, and which holdsathersheett securely;

The mannercinw which the'foregoinggandziothen objects of, this: invention: aree accomplished; willi' bexapparentrfromttheafollowing.specificatiomandi ciaimsei considered; together? with: the: drawings: wherein:

Figure I is a plan: View: of: thersurgicati; arm board-2 attachmenticof thiSfiI'H/BHMOILHB 0116?. offi'i'ts embo diments';

Figure? 2'; is a: view: in side: elevation; 0ft the": surgical: armboardr attachment: of: Eignre l;

Figure 3 is: at sectional; View; taken alongitthes lines: ,,BiOfiEiEuresaleandtZi;

Figure: 4: 1S; a;. fragmentaryr View inzside- 818373 I tion ofithezpresentiyt described;sung'icaliarmbnardi attachment". in; another: of its. embodiments; andi Figures 5t-iswas sectionallview' int elevationrgtakenz along-itheslines 5;;-..5; IofLEigure a4;

- Generally, stated} the. presently" described: surgical aarmboarduattaohment' comprises-ea $118317? sup-porting. bracket: extending? longitudinally oft the-,- armboarnh togethenrwith: means, for? detachv ablnseourng the. braoltetsttotthei-armboardi amt} for: maintaining: itl when im. operative? position:

a spacedzdistance thereaboven Thus theubra'cket:

may; be? hingedlye attached; to: a base". sleeve adapted; cox-slips overs thezarmboard, permitting: the"; bra'eketztori swingaupwardiy to an operatii'ei position LWhiQh itizisirrraintaine'dilongitmiinallw of: theyarmboardizauspacedi distanemabovetittandl'i downwardlyto am inoperative position i below the; armb'oardi and: out of th'ezway. i stopt'm'eansi are; associated withit'heghingezimeans :for: arrest? ing the-pivotalmovementof the: bracket when; it is. in the selected operative. position: 611 2: means may be. associated-with *thtbESEzQI? sleeves fonengz ingthe bracketwhen itis swung downswar/Lily. to (its inoperative position, thereby secure in;v it. pending a." subsequent uses.

In the embodimentiof "Figures. L.to,3;,i,.the presentiy describedl armboardl, attachment ismillustratedl in position on an armboard'.Tj wliiohi; is'-pivotal1y'attache'd through a; pivotlflfito the; operating table, ajfragment' ofwh'icli isiindicate'd" atB-Z The bracketportion ofthe attachment fort'sup; porting the-draping" sheet preferably is designed to support the same oversu"stantialiy"the; en:-

tirw width of thearmb'oardin order? to cover" the: patient s armmore eiiectively." Thus'v it.

may be formed in sections, there being the substantially parallel, horizontal sections l and I2 which may be connected through section M to form an elongated U-shaped bracket extending over substantially the entire area of the armboard. This normally horizontal section is supported a spaced distance above the armboard by means of an upright section comprising the standards or legs l6, [8 attached respectively to the horizontal members I0, I2. Preferably all of these various sections are formed from a single length of wire or other suitable material bent into the illustrated form.

Means also are provided for detachably securing the sheet-supporting bracket to the armboard. In the illustrated form, such means comprise a base member in the form of a sleeve 20 which may be continuous on its bottom surface but which is discontinuous on its top surface to leave exposed the major portion of the armboard surface. This makes possible slipping the sleeve on and off the armboard even when a patients arm is resting thereon, a handle 22 being provided on the sleeve to facilitate this purpose.

The sheet supporting bracket preferably is hingedly attached to the base through the hinge 24 which may comprise, for example, a collar affixed to the under side of the sleeve 20 and adapted to receive the free ends of standards l6, l8, these being bent toward each other substanatially normal to the body of the standards.

Thus the bracket may be swung about hinge 24 upwardly to an upright, operative position and downwardly to an inoperative position. It may be maintained in its upright position a spaced distance above the armboard 1 by means of one or more stop members 26, 28 adapted to engage the standards when the bracket is in the desired position. Such stop members may be formed as projecting tabs 26, 28 formed integrally from the substance of the sleeve.

The bracket may be maintained in its lowered or inoperative position, i. e. its dotted line position in Figure 2, by clip means associated with the sleeve and adapted to engage the bracket. Hence there may be provided one or more clips 30 affixed to the edge or under side of the sleeve and stationed in such a position as to engage the bracket when it is swung downwardly.

An alternate means for detachably securing the bracket to the armboard is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. In this embodiment, the bracket portion may correspond in design to that of the previously described embodiment and thus may include the standards 32, 34 which support the horizontal section in the manner described above. The standards may be hingedly attached to the armboard 36 by means of the hinge 38 affixed to a sleeve or base member 40. The sleeve 46 may be somewhat wider than the armboard and has in a side thereof one or more thumbscrews 42, 44 which penetrate the side of the sleeve and engage an edge of the armboard, exerting clamping pressure thereon.

Sleeve 40 may also be provided with a stop 46 and clip 48. Stop 46 serves the function similar to that of stops 26, 28 in the previously described embodiment in that it maintains the bracket arm a spaced distance above the armboard when in operative position. Clip 48 serves a purpose similar to that of clip 30 in the previously described embodiment in that it engages the bracket arm when the latter is swung down 4i to inoperative position and maintains it in such position until it is desired to use it again.

Thus, when a patient is placed on the operating table with an arm stretched outwardly on the armboard, the draping sheets may be arranged in the usual manner and also may be extended to rest upon the bracket arm of the presently described attachment, being held there preferably by means of suitable clips. The anesthetist or anaesthesiologist stationed adjacent the head of the patient then may start the intravenous fluids or intravenous anesthesia as desired. During this procedure, the arm area is shielded by the drapes and, at the same time, the area where the surgeon is operating is protected from contamination. This desirable situation is maintained during the entire period of the operation, the arm remaining accessible and visible to the anesthetist all the while without the necessity of disturbing or rearranging the sheets. Furthermore, when the operation has been completed, the bracket may be swung downwardly to an inoperative position on the armboard, or, if desired, the entire assembly may be removed therefrom, without disturbing the patients arm.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A surgical armboard attachment for supporting draping sheets out of contact with a patients arm placed on the armboard comprising a sheet-supporting bracket extending longitudinally of the armboard and comprising an elongated, horizontal portion extending longitudinally of the armboard and a substantially vertical standard portion for maintaining the longitudinal section a spaced distance above the armboard, a sleeve adapted to slip over the end of the armboard and having the central portion of its upper surface open to permit the patients arm to rest directly on the armboard, and means for attaching the standard portion of the bracket to the sleeve.

2. A surgical armboard attachment for supporting draping sheets out of contact with a patients arm placed on the armboard comprising a sheet-supporting bracket formed in an elongated U-shaped horizontal section and a pair of vertical standards, one attached to each of the ends of the horizontal portion, a sleeve adapted to be slipped over the armboard, hinge means for hingedly attaching the vertical standard portions of the bracket to the sleeve, and stop means associated with the hinge means for maintaining the bracket in operative position above the armboard.

3. The surgical armboard attachment of claim 2 wherein the stop means comprise a pair of tabs affixed to the sleeve on opposite sides thereof and adapted to engage the standard portion of the bracket when the latter is in upright position.

4. A surgical armboard attachment for supporting draping sheets out of contact with a patients arm placed on the armboard, comprising a sheet-supporting bracket formed in an elongated U-shaped horizontal section and a pair of vertical standards, one attached to each of the ends of the horizontal portion, a sleeve adapted to he slipped over the armboard, hinge means for hingedly attaching the vertical standard portions of the bracket to the sleeve, stop means associated with the hinge means for maintaining the bracket in operative position above the armboard, and clip means on the sleeve for engaging the bracket when swung downwardly to the inoperative position.

LUCILLE M. McDONALD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Hull Mar. 12, 1889 Number Number Number Name Date Hermansen Feb. 11, 1930 Richardson Nov. 21, 1939 Bent July 28, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Aug. 24, 1914 

